When The Real O’Neals star Noah Galvin spoke with Vulture this spring, the intent was to drum up Emmy interest for the actor and his ABC sitcom. The result was interest of a much different type: The openly gay Galvin’s quotes about gay characters on other ABC comedies (On Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet: “he’s playing a caricature of a caricature of a stereotype of stereotype”) and the coming out of Arrow star Colton Hayes’ (“fucking pussy bullshit”) caused what one insider later described to The Hollywood Reporter as “a grade-A shit show.” That same Hollywood Reporter article also stated that ABC had considered trimming The Real O’Neals’ second-season episode order in the wake of the interview, which producers of the show countered today at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“There wasn’t any threat to cut our order or anything like that. ABC’s been incredibly supportive,” executive producer Casey Johnson told reporters during a panel gathering the showrunners of ABC’s current comedy slate. She added: “We all say things we wish we hadn’t. Noah regretted what he said and apologized pretty quickly.”
One glimpse of that uncut episode was provided during the panel: When a local bakery refuses to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, Galvin’s character Kenny is torn because he loves the bakery’s cupcakes. He’ll probably feel differently when he learns that a cupcake is just a caricature of a caricature of a stereotype of a stereotype of a dessert.